test-drb December 2001

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

243 participants
1096 discussions

by csmith＠amdocs.com

Hi everybody, I have -- in various stages of repair -- three MIPS RISComputers. The model is M/120. I'm in need of an operating system (and maybe even software :) that will run on these. They were given to me without hard drives. Any ideas? Also, can anyone tell me what's the normal amount of RAM for these to have? One of them has two or three (don't remember) RAM boards, and one has five. The third has no RAM, and I wonder whether I could divide the boards between them and still have something reasonable. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years

ABS type glue / was ASR-33

by Robert_Feldman＠jdedwards.com

There is a new multi-part bonder called "cyanopoxy" that can even glue nylon and "slippery engineering plastics" such as Delrin. It is, however, quite expensive -- $48.50 w/s&h for a small quantity; see www.mrhobby.com. I learned about it in an article in "Railroad Model Craftsman" magazine. Looks good and might work to glue broken switch paddles, but I haven't used it myself. -----Original Message----- From: Craig Smith [mailto:ip500@home.com] Sent: Monday, December 10, 2001 2:41 PM To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org Subject: ABS type glue / was ASR-33 Check out a sporting goods store that sells whitewater canoes. Most are made from ABS of some sort [Royalite, Royaltex, Oltenar] all come from basic ABS sandwich stock. They should have a really tough glue for mounting tie points and thigh harness to the bottom of the interior. IN my experience .. NOTHING else will bond to the ABS. Tothwolf wrote: > > On Mon, 10 Dec 2001, Bill Sudbrink wrote: > > > Anyway, the metal on both machines seems to be in good shape, but the > > plastic leaves something to be desired. The ASR is mostly just dirty, > > but there is a crack at the left rear screw position. The KSR is > > cleaner as it was used less, but it was stored improperly in a box and > > dropped or something and the plastic upper case (the gray case, not > > the white/yellow cover over the carriage) is broken into several > > pieces. So does anybody have recommendations as to glue or other > > solutions? Is someone sitting on a big stock of spare upper shells? > > Use a glue specially for ABS plastic. Most so-called plastic and model > glues are for polystyrene and won't bond ABS since they are not strong > enough. Let me know what you find, since I'm also looking for glue to use > on tons of broken ABS cases. I've been told that there is a glue made for > an ABS type of drain pipe. PVC glue won't work either, it tends to damage > ABS plastics. > > -Toth

24 years

Availability of DSP56K chips

by CLeyson＠aol.com

Hi Carlos Try Dial Electronics, www.dialelec.com, they may be able to get some 56001's, they are resonably priced and don't have a minimum order charge. Unfortunately the rest of the 56k family comes in 144pin quad flat pack, even the 56002. One solution might be get a TQFP to BGA adapter board. The BGA adaptors usually have long enough pins to wrap and solder to. Winslow in the UK may have these in stock. Also, look out for an old style DSP56303-EVM evaluation module. These had pin headers connected to the data, address and control busses. I may have an old one lying around somewhere. Don't bother with the new EVM modules if you need to interface to any hardware - they only have headers for the control bus and 8-bit host port. Note: The 8-bit host port is a slave port only and needs to be driven from external processor. I've been using the 56300 family for quite a while now. The 24-bit instructions let you do one arithmetic op and two data moves in one cycle. The DMA channels allow you to move data without interrupting the core. You also get a lot more internal memory with the 563xx parts. My personal preference is to run these processors using internal memory only. Just use slow 8-bit flash to load programs. It saves having to use fast SRAM and you can do all of your I/O with fast serial links if need be. 56303 - 4k program, 2k X and Y ram. 3.3V core and I/O. I/O is 5V tolerent. Speed 80-100MHz. 144pin TQFP 56309, 20k program, 7k X and Y ram. 3.3V core and I/O. I/O is not 5V tolerent. Speed 80-100MHz. 144pin TQFP or PBGA (Plastic Ball Grid Array) package. 56307, 48k program, 8k X and Y ram, or 16k P ram and 24 X & Y ram 1.8V or 2.5V core and 3.3V I/O. Speed 100-160MHz. BGA package only. 56307 also comes with an independent Co-processor on board. All the Motorola tools are free even the gnu C compiler. I used the C compiler once and didn't like it. It produced slow code and didn't even support a fractional data type !! Not much use if your processor work in fractional arithmetic. I do all of my DSP programming in assembler. Alternatively try Texas or Analog Devices. Chris

24 years

Smoking around computers

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> > On Mon, 10 Dec 2001, Richard Erlacher wrote: > > > Bear in mind that I'm a FORMER smoker, and that there's no Catholic like a > > > convert, as they say ... > > > I've disassembled a number of CDROM drives that clearly suffered from > > > > D'ya mean that retractable ashtray holder? > > > Gee ... I thought that was a cup holder ... Just wondering... do you drive a Volvo? ;)

24 years

Smoking around computers

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> > > > > I once encountered a TRS-80 whose keyboard wasn't working due to a > > > > > chronic accumulation of marijuana seeds that had fallen in. > > > > > > > > I understand they're high in protein. Maybe this person ate them over > > > > their keyboard like others eat snacks? :) > > > > > > If they weren't eating snacks before they ate the marijuana seeds, they > > > certainly were afterwards. :-P > > > > Sounds like this comes from someone who knows? :) > > I'm less than two years away from my MD -- of course I know! ;-) Great... another reason to fear doctors! ;)

24 years

VAX 8650 want a good home ...

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

> Well, if you tell us what you're looking for, we might just > find it. Docs & prints would be nice :-) Must be one of the few major machines for which virtually nothing seems to be available on the net! Antonio

24 years

Anyone want a 386/33?

by vcf＠vintage.org

Here's a guy in Minneapolis with a 386/33 to unload. Please reply directly to him. Reply-to: <joel_muscatello(a)securecomputing.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 14:15:04 -0600 From: "Muscatello, Joel" <joel_muscatello(a)securecomputing.com> To: 'Vintage Computer Festival' <vcf(a)vintage.org> Subject: RE: Any need for a 386 computer? Hello. Thanks for your reply. I am located in Minneapolis, MN. I would appreciate any help you could give me in finding a way to get rid of the machine. :-) Joel -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org * Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *

24 years

VAX 6400 booting saga: how to transfer binaries to VMS with k ermit?

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

> > %STDRV-I-STARTUP, OpenVMS startup begun at 10-DEC-2001 22:56:23.89 > %SYSGEN-E-SYSVERDIF, system version mismatch - reassemble and > relink driver > -SYSGEN-I-DRIVENAM, driver name is SIDRIVER > %SYSGEN-E-SYSVERDIF, system version mismatch - reassemble and > relink driver > -SYSGEN-I-DRIVENAM, driver name is SIDRIVER > > this driver version mismatch prevents me from doing a SYSGEN > etc. Where can I turn off dependency to this driver? That's the driver for the DMB32. To hide it from SYSGEN it just needs to be renamed: $ RENAME SYS$COMMON:[SYS$LDR]SIDRIVER.EXE SYS$COMMON:[SYS$LDR]SIDRIVER.OLD But just in case, it might be worth checking that you don't have more than one version lying around: $ DIR SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES:SIDRIVER.EXE Normally I would suggest purging down if multiple files are kicking around, but since this system is all you have, I'd go with renaming all of them and keeping the version numbers the same i.e. $ RENAME SYS$COMMON:[SYS$LDR]SIDRIVER.EXE;33 SYS$COMMON:[SYS$LDR]SIDRIVER.OLD;33 or whatever. The other WAN device drivers you won't care about are SJDRIVER, SLDRIVER, SFDRIVER, SEDRIVER, ZTDRIVER and ZWDRIVER ... actually I'm sure there are more, I've just mislaid my list! If SIDRIVER is out of date I guess that the rest will be too. However, I assume that SIDRIVER is getting dragged in because SYSGEN found a DMB32? Antonio

24 years

Rescue list?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 10, Jeffrey S. Sharp wrote: > I tried it for a few hours, but found the message load to be too much for > my tastes. Think about getting a classiccmp day every *hour*. Or maybe > that was the geeks list. I don't remember. It certainly spikes that high, but it's not usually that bad. -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

24 years

Happy DEC-10 Day!

by CordaAJ＠nswc.navy.mil

Happy DEC-10 Day to all that remember the venerable olde beaste! Some of my happiest memories of college (WPI) involved hacking on the poor thing back in `73-`77... -al- -acorda(a)1bigred.com

24 years

Smoking around computers

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> I have noticed > that machines with either residue (pot or cigs) don't tend to > have mice live > in them when sotred - I tried this by putting a bag of > tobacco (cloth bag) > inside and purposely left a filler plate off - no mice. The > machine without > had all sorts of acorn shells, poop, nesting materials, etc though. Great tip, thanks, the old IBM 716 Line Printer was *full* of that; had I known I could stick a pack of Viceroys in there to cure it, I might not have dismantled it... -dq

24 years

I've discovered a new pleasure.

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

> On December 10, Boatman on the River of Suck wrote: > > I've discovered a new simple pleasure. Sitting in my storage locker with > > a space heater and my IBM Portable Personal Computer (thanks again, Jeff) > > programming in BASIC in the middle of the night. Ahhh. > > Uhhhh > > Sridhar, you ok man? > > -Dave Good question, comments like that are scarry :^) Especially since it reveals that he's got a storage locker that isn't completely full :^) Zane

24 years

I've discovered a new pleasure.

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 10, Boatman on the River of Suck wrote: > I've discovered a new simple pleasure. Sitting in my storage locker with > a space heater and my IBM Portable Personal Computer (thanks again, Jeff) > programming in BASIC in the middle of the night. Ahhh. Uhhhh Sridhar, you ok man? -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

24 years

Free DEC stuff in Milpitas CA

by bob＠jfcl.com

I have the following mostly (but not all) DEC stuff to give away FREE. All you have to do is pick it up in Milpitas CA (next door to San Jose). * A VAXstation-2000. No disks (you'll need to find an RD5x/3x for it). No guarantees of condition, either, but then it is free :-) * A VAXstation-3100/30. No disks (but you can use almost any SCSI drive). No guarantees of condition, either, but then it is free :-) * A Sophia Systems SA-2000 8-bit ICE. This is a self contained CP/M machine from the early 80s in a "luggable" case something like the KayPro or Osborne. Includes SA-DOS boot diskettes but no pods (it boots and runs just fine with out them). * A DECmate-II RX50 system (no hard disk) WITHOUT the 6120 CPU chip. System unit only - no monitor or keyboard. * About half a dozen DEC orange binders (empty). * A MicroVMS (VMS v4.x) manual set, in orange binders. * Most of an OpenVMS v7.x manual set (perfect bound). * A padded, sound proof printer enclosure for a 14" dot matrix printer, including a fan. I only read this list in digest form, and I'm way behind on that, so please write to me directly if you're interested in anything. Bob

24 years

Several Apollo computers for free - Raleigh, NC

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> **I WILL NOT SHIP THESE ITEMS.** Sorry; they're just too > heavy and bulky > for me to package and ship; I just have too much else going > on right now. > With everything going on, I STRONGLY prefer someone take > everything. I will > not be able to take the time to go through any of this and > pick out parts > that people want. If someone fairly close to Raleigh is on the list, doesn't lust for these, and is wiling to give me a hand, I'd like to get as least the docs, or see them go to someone who can and will get them scanned fairly soon, I'm a bit in the dark running my Apollos (the FAQ helps as does some other info on the web). I would not mind seeing the entire haul in my hands but I've got 3 systems of similar vintage, so I don't want to be a pig. Anyone near him? -dq

24 years

Prints for an 11/70

by CLeyson＠aol.com

Sorry can't help with the 11/70. On a similar thread, for those interested in HP stuff - I did find a schematic for an HP2116 32-bit floating point CORDIC co-processor. It's all in US patent 3766370 dated 1973. Patent contains complete schematic, flow charts and microcode. Uses some logic family I've never heard of, SL159XX series ? Chris

24 years

testing

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Dave McGuire [mailto:mcguire@neurotica.com] > On December 8, Peter C. Wallace wrote: > > > testing > > testing 1..2..3... > KA410-A V1.2 > F_..E...D...C...B...A...9...8...7...6...5...4_..3_..2_..1_.. ?DKA0... Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years

Several Apollo computers for free - Raleigh, NC

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 12/10/2001 5:22:47 PM Eastern Standard Time, cdrice(a)pobox.com writes: << Among them are several Apollo computers, and stack of misc. hardware (token ring parts and cables, misc. video and i/o cables, etc). and a very large stack of documentation. >> wish I had the space; I'm within 25 miles of the computers.

24 years

H89 docs/help requested

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

As previously posted, the H89 which Joe Rigdon kindly gave me has a problem with the keyboard input: sometimes it works properly, but sometimes double characters or wrong characters are produced. This behavior can change while using the machine -- one moment it's okay, the next moment I get wrong or double characters. Anyone have a set of docs they can reproduce for me? Or any experience with the keyboard controller circuitry on this machine? TIA -- Glen 0/0

24 years

A hypothetical

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> Let's say a DEC PDP-1 comes up for auction. The economy is > good and times are stable. > > What would you be willing to pay for a DEC PDP-1? > > This is strictly a hypothetical. I'd be willing to pay everything I've got, which would *not* be enough to be the winning bidder. So, the real question should be, what would an auction of a PDP-1 top out at? -dq

24 years

CPT 9000

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Don Maslin [mailto:donm@cts.com] > > It also has (...and this is the reason I rescued it, even > though it is an > > intel machine) a really odd graphics adaptor with a 15-pin (two row > > D-shaped) connector that drives a full-page monochrome > (white) EGA monitor. > Sounds Mac like. You're not kidding. The installation of MS-DOS on the disk resides in the "SYSTEM" directory. That aside, I get the impression they used GEM desktop (there are small components stuck in with the installation of ventura publisher -- either it came with ventura or was part of the system...) There is also a more "standard" monitor plug next to the strange one (on the same card)... > Thanks, Chris, I appreciate the info. Sorry I cannot help you. Thanks for the attempt. If they made an 8000, maybe I should keep an eye out. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years

Availability of DSP56K chips

by cmurillo＠emtelsa.multi.net.co

Hi everyone; It's been a while since I last coded stuff for robot control. The last time I did that, the DSP56K (dsp56001 in particular) chips were readily available. Now I need to develop a new platform for research purposes and I am finding that the once ubiquitous dsp56k chips have been eol'd (end-of-line'd in motorola parlance). The suggested replacements are the dsp56301 or 303 chips, which are code compatible, have 24 bit addressing (instead of 16 bit), run at 80MIPs instead of 20, and have all the glue logic for PCI or ISA interfacing built-in (dsp56301, which makes sense in my application because the robot supervisor will be a Linux server receiving commands from robot application clients over tcp/ip; the dsp will be a slave that does the low level yet massive number crunching stuff). So why don't I just go and choose the newer parts? Several reasons: 1) I'd prefer to go with unix-based free software tools. There is a56k and gcc56k for the dsp56k. While the dsp56.3k is supposedly code-compatible, I am sure that some tweaking would be required to make these tools work with the new family, and compilers are not my area of expertise. 2) The older parts have roughly 100 pins and can be wirewrapped, the new parts have 192 pins and require modern pcb design and production techniques, which are outrageously expensive in this corner of the world. I am not comfortable wire-wrapping a design that runs at 80MHz instead of 20. 3) From experience, I know that 20MIPS is enough for the task at hand. So, I am faced with a familiar problem; an old part that will do the job in a simpler design is no longer (readily) available; there is a new, better, faster part, but there aren't as many software goodies to go with it, and the hardware design tools and fabrication are more expensive. The key issue is the present availability of the older parts. I've checked some places and they seem to actually be out of these chips. So my question to the list is: do you know where to get dsp56001A chips? Or better yet, do you have some that you don't plan to use? carlos. -------------------------------------------------------------- Carlos E. Murillo-Sanchez carlos_murillo(a)nospammers.ieee.org

24 years

Availability of DSP56K chips

by CLeyson＠aol.com

Carlos Sorry I got carried away. If all you need is a slave processor and 20Mips, then the 56303-EVM is ideal. You get 64k x 8 flash, 32k x 24 fast SRAM, a 16-bit stereo codec and a pin header for the host port. Also included is a 56002 which acts as an RS232 to JTAG interface for Domain Technologies Debug-56k debugger, also free from Domain Technologies, www.domaintec.com. Chris

24 years

CPT 9000

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Don Maslin [mailto:donm@cts.com] > Are you sure that it is not a CPT 8000? That one I am a bit familiar > with and find ample references by a google search. On 9000, I draw a > blank. Well, it says 9000 on the front, I believe. :) > If it is truly 9000, what floppy disk size does it use? It was shipped, I think, with both 3.5 and 5.25" high-density floppy drives. I just found another 3.5" floppy that works in it on Saturday night. I got no manuals, no software (other than what was extremely messed up and left on the drive), and a disassembled machine. The machine is now in more-or-less good shape. I need to pick the tumbler keyboard lock. For now I've just disconnected it. (Or find a key that works) I should also replace the power adaptor I've got plugged into the floppy drive, since it's also got a signal cable adaptor that's not being used. :) As I was saying, the installation was pretty botched by the time I got it. It boots -- thinks it runs MS-DOS 3.2 -- and that's really about it. I believe the CPU was intel 286. It has a "Tall Tree Systems" JRAM card and JLaser 3 (I think) daughterboard. a 20MB MFM (or RLL?) 3.5" half-height hard disk. (Miniscribe, I believe) It also has (...and this is the reason I rescued it, even though it is an intel machine) a really odd graphics adaptor with a 15-pin (two row D-shaped) connector that drives a full-page monochrome (white) EGA monitor. That's pretty much all I know about it. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years

Moving heavy equipment

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Back in September I wrote: >I've got a lead on a full and working electron microscope. >It's on-topic because it's old and has some sort of >computerized digitizing unit. :-) >I've lined up a big Diesel stake (flat-bed) truck. >It'll be about a 2-3 hour drive. We've got straps, >boards, tarps. I'm most concerned about getting it >*off* the truck and into my office or home basement. >Any other thoughts from the group? An update: it's in my garage now. The x-ray spectrometer is a 11/23-based system running custom apps over RT-11. The SEM has an 8085-based system for automating various aspects of the electron microscope column. It's an AMRAY 1610T, circa 1983: http://www.threedee.com/jmosn/microscopes/amray/index.html Even at 1,200 pounds, the column rolled easily on a pallet jack, off the loading dock ramp and onto the truck. To get it all off the truck, the farmer next-door helped with his power-tilt front-loader bucket. The next trick will be to levitate it down the stairs and into the basement. If I can get it all back together again and happy, it'll magnify down to about 50,000 x. - John

24 years

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test-drb December 2001